Seed Funding Webinar - AI-Driven Inverse Design for Enhanced Photonics: Surface Roughness and Non-Linearity Optimized Waveguides (AIR-SNOW)

AI-Assisted Design of Integrated Waveguides for Nonlinear Photonics

Nonlinear photonic integrated circuits are key enablers for applications in optical sensing, metrology, and quantum technologies, where precise control over the spectral output from frequency comb generation to parametric processes is essential. However, the design of waveguides and resonant cavities with tailored nonlinear and dispersive properties remains a computationally demanding inverse problem, typically requiring extensive simulation sweeps over large parameter spaces.

This talk presents an AI-driven framework for the inverse design of integrated waveguides targeting nonlinear applications. The approach combines finite-difference eigenmode simulations to build a dataset of optical modes across a range of waveguide geometries and materials, feedforward neural networks as fast surrogates for modal and dispersion profiles, and physics-informed neural networks to solve the nonlinear propagation equations. The longer-term objective is to integrate these components within a generative adversarial network capable of mapping a desired output spectrum directly to an optimised waveguide design. The current status of the framework and future directions will be discussed.

Dr. Natale G. Pruiti

Dr. Natale G. Pruiti is a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow, working on integrated photonics, with a particular focus on low loss visible platforms and nonlinear optical devices. His research spans process development, integrated photonic device optimisation, and nonlinear device engineering, with experience ranging from fabrication-aware modelling to system-level performance analysis. His interests lie at the intersection of scalable visible photonic platforms, advanced design methodologies, and emerging applications in nonlinear and quantum photonics.

Dr. Naveen Kumar

Dr. Naveen Kumar (Ph.D.) is post-doctoral research associate in DeepNano Group in the Electronic and Nanoscale Engineering Division, University of Glasgow. His research revolves around different semiconductor devices including ultra-scaled FETs, solar cells, photodiodes, HEMT, Quantum Dots, etc. and their prospective applications. He is currently working on unravelling the interfacial behaviour of different FET based chemical/biological sensors using different classical and semi-quantum analytical models.